Like every former chancellor, Gerhard Schröder is entitled to payments from the state, for example for his office. But the SPD politician has sidelined himself with his attitude towards Russia.
Demands to cut state support for former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder (SPD) are getting louder. “Former holders of top offices who are apparently on the side of criminal governments cannot count on the support of this state,” said FDP leader Christian Lindner in an interview over the weekend. The Saarland Prime Minister Anke Rehlinger (SPD) said that Schröder could “only forestall a party expulsion by leaving”. Bundestag President Bärbel Bas (SPD) said Schröder was a shame for his party.
“We should draw conclusions,” Lindner told the Funke newspapers. It is no longer conceivable for him that Schröder would be provided with an office by the taxpayer, emphasized the Federal Minister of Finance.
Against the background of the Ukraine war, the former chancellor has been heavily criticized for his friendship with Russian head of state Vladimir Putin and his commitment to the Russian energy industry.
Christian Lindner calls for a code of honor for former chancellors
Former chancellors and federal presidents should in principle continue to be provided with offices and employees because they would still have obligations after leaving, said Lindner. However, these follow-up tasks would decrease over time. “So it would be advisable to standardize the equipment of former holders of top offices and to reduce them over time.”
Lindner also called for the introduction of rules of conduct for former Chancellors: “In this context, one should also talk about a kind of code of honor when it comes to behavior.”
Schröder is also heavily criticized in his own party. SPD leader Saskia Esken had therefore recently asked him to leave the party. A party order procedure is already underway against Schröder, which could lead to his expulsion.
Gerhard Schröder’s statements about Putin “bizarre”
The new Saarland Prime Minister Rehlinger told the “Spiegel”: “For me it is absolutely incompatible to be on Putin’s payroll and on the SPD’s list of members at the same time.” Schröder’s statements about Putin are “bizarre”. The ex-Chancellor and former SPD leader “can only forestall a party expulsion by leaving”.
Bundestag President Bas told the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Sunday newspaper”: “It’s a pity that the former chancellor doesn’t question himself at all.” It is therefore logical that he either resigns on his own or that an expulsion procedure is initiated against him. With his behavior, Schröder destroyed the image of his chancellorship.
CSU boss Markus Söder also asked Schröder to leave the SPD himself and also to give up his privileges as a former head of government. On Saturday at a small CSU party conference in Würzburg, Söder called it “a disgrace for our country” how Schröder behaved in connection with the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine: “It harms us all over the world, not just the SPD.”
Source: Stern
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